Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-08-25

| AS you see, l. nave rope ladder fixed to
the lowest bough and if I want to see any
thing that is going on within fifteen miles
Or so, all l have to do is to run up it with a
spy-glass. But you must be hungry, and /
am sure the dinner is cooked. Come in,
my friends: it is but rough place. but
well enough for these savage parts; and I
can tell you what we have got-a French
cook" And he led the way to the yeranda.
AS [ was following him, and wondering
what on earth he could mean by this. there
suddenly appeared, through til door that
opened on the veranda from the house. a
dapper little man. dressed in a neat. blue
cotton shirt, and shoes made of tanned hide,
and remarkable for bustling air, and
most enormous black mustachios, shaped
into an upward curve and coming to a
point for all the world like pair of buff
falo-horns.
Madame bids me for to say that dinner
Is sarved. Messieurs, my mp-.merts;"
then suddenly perceiving Umslopogaas,
who was lettering along after us and play
ing with his battle-ax, he threw up his
hands in establishment. "Ah, 71lais Q1teI
Feonln,e!' he calculated in French, ''queI
saltUdge dferueC! Take but note of his
huge choppare and the great pit in his
head"
cay" said Mr.. Mackenzie, what are
you talking about, Alphonse?"
Talking about" replied the little
Frenchman, his eyes still fixed upon UNI
slopogaas, whose general appearance
seemed to fascinate him; sfwhy I talk of
him"-and he rudely pointed-''of ce mon
sieur 7loir."
At this everybody began to laugh, and
Umslopogaas, perceiving that he was the
object of remark, frowned ferociously; for
he had most lordly dislike of anything
like personal liberty.
"PGrbleu" said Alphonse, che is angered
he makes the grimaces. [ like not his
air. vanish" And he did, with consid-
cradle rapidity.
Mr. Mackenzie joined heartily in the
shout of laughter which we INDUCED in.
''He is q queer neutrality-suspicious." he
said, ''By and by will tell you his history;
| in the meanwhile let us try his cooking"
''Might [ ASK said Sir Henry, after we
had eaten a most excellent dinner, chow
you came to have a French cook in these
Wilds?"
ooh" answered Mrs Macke :, che
arrived here of his own accord about year
ago, and asked to be taken into our SER
vice. He had got into some trouble in
France, and fed to Zanzibar, where he
found an application had been made by the
French government for his extradition.
Whereupon he rushed off up-country, and
| fell in, when nearly starved, with our car
AVIAN of men, who were bringing us our
annual supply of goods, and was brought
on here. You should get him to tell you
the story"
When dinner was over we lit our pipes,
and Sir Henry proceeded to give our host
a description OF our journey up here, ever
which he looked very grave.
sit is evident to me-" he said, "that
those rascally Nasal are following you;
and I am very thankful that you have
reached this house in safety. I do not
think that they will dare to attack you
here. 1t is unfortunate, though, that near
ly all my men have gone down to the coast
with ivory and goods. There are two hun
dred of them in the caravan, and the con-
sequence is that I have not more than
twenty men available for defensive pur-
poses in case they should attack us. But,
still, [ will just give few ORDERS" and,
calling a black man who was lettering
about outside in the garden, he went to the
window, and addressed him in a Swahili
| dialect. The man listened and then sa-
luted and departed.
81 am sure / devoutly hope that we
shall bring no such calamity upon you,"
said I, anXiously, when he had taken his
seat again. Rather than bring those
bloodthirsty villains about your ears, we
| will move On and take our Glance"
'You will do nothing of the sort If the
Nasal come, they come, and tAere is an
end of it, and ] think we can give them a
pretty warm greeting. I would not show
any man the door for all the Nasal in the
| world"
''That reminds me" / said, the Consul
at Lamu told me that he had had letter
| from you, in which. you said that. q man
had arrived here who reported tl!,3S ne ,iisd
come across a white people in the interior.
Do you think that there was any truth Ill
his story? I ask because | have once Or
twice In my life heard fumorS from natives
who have come down from the far north,
of the existence of such q race"
Mr.. Mackenzie, by way Of answer, went
out of the room, and returned bringing
| with him most curious sword. 1t was
long, and all the blade, which was very
thick and heavy, was, to within a quarter
of an inch of the cutting edge, worked into
| an ornamental pattern. exactly as wework
soft wood with a fretsaw, the steel, how
ever, being invariably pierced in such a
way as not to interfere with the strength
of the sword. This in itself was sufficient
ly curious; but what was still more SO was
| that all the edges Of the hollow spaces, cut
| through the substance Of the blade, were
most beautifully in1aid with gold, whie
was in some way, that cannot understand
welded on to the steel. Since I saw the
| above have examined hundreds of these
swords, but have never been able to dis
cover how the gold plates were inlaid in
| the fretwork; the armorerS who make them
in Zu-vendis binding themselves by oath
not to reveal the secret.1
There" said Mr.. Mackenzie ''did you
ever see sword like that?"
| We all examined it and shook our heads.
''Well, got it to show you, because this
| is what the man who said he had seen the
white people brought with him, and be-
cause it does more or less give an air of
truth to what 1 should otherwise have set
down as a lie. Look here; I will tell you
| all that I know about the matter, which is
| not D1J1cb One afternoon, inst haforo c11r1-